Chuck vs The Booze
by songandsilence
Summary: Sarah decides that she and Chuck need a break...and thus ensues a game of Kings at Casa Bartowski!


NOTE: I am very well aware that there are many, many different ways to play Kings. This is just the way I usually play, so please don't comment saying "I play it THIS way!" because this is just my version.  
Anyway, this was just something fun to lighten up the load of angst and action and whatever. Purely for fun! :D

**Chuck vs. The Booze**

"I don't…understand what's happening," said Chuck haplessly as he was dragged out of his room and out into the living room by one Sarah Walker. She was always stronger than he remembered her being.

"You need a night off," she hissed in his ear. "And so do I. So we're going to have some fun tonight." There was a smile in her voice, behind the solid layer of determination.

"Have some – what?" But then they were in the living room, and Chuck saw what she had planned. Ellie, Awesome, Morgan and Anna were all sitting around the coffee table. On the coffee table were four _large_ bottles of various alcohols, a line of glasses and a pack of cards. "So…basically we're going to get trashed?"

"Yeah, basically," said Sarah with a playful grin, prancing past him. She actually did walk in a way that verged on prancing – oh, Chuck was so confused.

"Chuck!" yelled Morgan. "My man! Come join in the fun, we're about to start."

"Start what?" said Chuck apprehensively.

"Kings!" said Ellie, grinning mischievously. "I'm taking some time off from stressing about the wedding, and Sarah said you needed to unwind too. Come on!"

"O…kay." He settled in a chair, Sarah perching on the arm, her elbow resting on his shoulder. He quirked an eyebrow up at her and she smirked back at him.

"Now, we all know the rules, right?" said Awesome. "Two is – "

"Oh, we know the rules," said Anna challengingly, running her hand up Morgan's back. "Let's get going."

"Alright," said Awesome appreciatively, stretching the word out. "What'll we all be having?" They all chose various mixed drinks and filled their cups almost to the brim. Sarah was actually laughing as Morgan poured hers – which was risky in the first place, as Morgan was especially generous when it came to drinks – and Chuck couldn't help but join in.

Awesome set up the ring of cards and turned to Ellie. "You first, babe." With a little laugh of anticipation, Ellie drew a card from the face-down ring.

"Four," she read out. "Whores!" Chuck watched as Ellie, Sarah and Anna all took big swigs of their drinks. Morgan egged Anna on until she smacked him.

"Morgan, your turn!" said Awesome. Morgan took his time dramatically choosing a card out of the ring.

"Seven…what's seven again?" he asked.

"Rulemaster!" said Anna gleefully. "You choose a rule that we all have to follow for the rest of the night. If we break the rule, we have to drink."

Morgan grinned. "Sweet! Um…ooh, what should I pick?" He drummed his fingers together and looked evilly around at all of them. "How's this? No swearing."

"Dude!" said Awesome loudly. "That sucks! You know it's impossible not to swear when you're drunk."

"Sorry, Devon, but I am the Rulemaster." Morgan shrugged in a completely unapologetic way. "And I saw that there's no swearing for the rest of the game." After much loud complaining, the game continued.

Anna picked her card. "Eight. Eight is Mate, right?" She looked around the circle with narrowed eyes. "I choose…Ellie! So Ellie, whenever I drink for the rest of the night, you have to too." A challenging gleam in her eye, she lifted her drink. With a groan, Ellie matched her.

Sarah was next, and she drew a two. "What's two again? You?" When Awesome nodded, Sarah grinned and pointed at Chuck. "You. Drink." Tilting his head in acceptance to her challenge, Chuck took a big gulp of his drink. Wow, he had put a lot of alcohol in that…oh, it was his turn.

"Nine. Rhyme! Um…if I say orange, do you all have to drink?" Sarah nudged him hard with her arm and he grinned. "Okay, fine." He paused. "Spy." For her part, Sarah didn't even flinch when he said it. They went around the circle thinking things that rhymed with 'spy', Morgan nearly starting drooling when Ellie said 'pie' until Anna hit him again. Then Sarah adorably fumbled and couldn't think of anything else and had to drink. Chuck gave her an amused glance and she rolled her eyes.

Awesome continued the round by drawing a ten and making them all list things in the category of "dangerous sports". Anna accidentally swore while talking about some type of martial arts she did and had to drink, and so Ellie had to drink as well. The entire group cheered them on. Chuck's cheeks kind of hurt from laughing – he hadn't felt this carefree and happy in a long time. It didn't hurt that Sarah had a hand at the back of his neck and was playing with his curly hair.

He was beginning to feel warm and fuzzy, like his brain was floating somewhere outside of his body. Sarah was right; this was just what he needed. Right now there was no Intersect, no spy missions, no Casey, not cover relationship. Chuck closed his eyes and pretended that Sarah was really his girlfriend.

Then, Ellie drew a five. There were various reactions ranging from groans to excited giggles, they all stuck out five fingers, except Sarah. "Wait, what's Five Fingers?"

"Never Have I Ever," said Ellie in mock astonishment. "You're never played it?" Sarah shook her head sheepishly. "Well, this ought to be fun. So, basically, I say that I've never done something, and anyone who _has_ done that thing has to put a finger down and drink." It started out fairly harmlessly, but the questions got more brutal. Then, Ellie asked the question that would change the night.

"I've never…kissed a girl." She raised her eyebrows and looked around the circle…as _everyone_ else drank. Chuck nearly spat out his drink.

"Sarah? You've – oh, good God." Sarah shrugged, a little pink tinting her cheeks.

"Hey, I did go to college at one point." Chuck shook his head. Now he was never going to be able to think of anything other than Sarah and some other girl doing…things. Ellie was cracking up over on the couch next to a stunned looking Awesome.

"Anna?" said Awesome impressed. "You've kissed a girl?"

"And I liked it," replied Anna with a smug look on her face. Morgan just looked incredibly proud.

"I can't believe it!" said Ellie. "I totally just asked that question to get all the boys to drink, but Sarah _and_ Anna? Wow, now I feel left out." She pouted a little and Awesome's eyebrows nearly rocketed off his face.

"You want…Ellie, I'm sure I can figure – " Before Awesome could propose whatever sordid situation he was thinking of, Sarah stood up, walked over to Ellie, leaned down and kissed her – lightly, chastely – on the mouth. Chuck's jaw dropped and Awesome and Morgan cheered.

"Oh God, that is SO not right!" said Chuck, covering his eyes. "My girlfriend did not just kiss my sister." Sarah sat back down next to him after a shared laugh with Ellie, her cheeks more than a little red.

"Feel free to continue!" said Awesome enthusiastically. Ellie couldn't stop laughing – she didn't hold her booze very well – and Sarah just sat next to Chuck with rosy cheeks and a pleased look on her face.

"That was just unfair," said Chuck, unable to keep the silly grin off his face. "If you're going to kiss a girl, couldn't it be someone I can actually fantasize about?" Sarah giggled – _actually_ giggled – and almost fell off the chair.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind the next time I go around kissing girls," she said jokingly, swaying again. Chuck wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Whoa there, how much have you had to drink?" He glanced at her cup and saw it was almost empty. "Wow! You can't say 'no' to a challenge, can you?" She elbowed him.

"I want to have fun tonight. I don't want to think about anything other than just being here." She was too tipsy to hide the emotion behind her words, and Chuck could clearly hear how wistful she was. He squeezed her a little and she smiled.

The rest of the game was somewhat of a blur after that. Chuck knew that there was lots of friendly (ish) competition between Ellie and Anna with their drinking partnership, Awesome was the king of Questionmaster, Chuck almost choked while doing a Waterfall and then proceeded to laugh his ass off when Sarah was challenged to an Ace to the Face. Throughout the whole thing, Sarah and Chuck kept getting closer and closer, until she was practically in his lap. They kept physical contact through the whole game too, pressing their sides together or running their fingers across arms or shoulders or open gaps of skin. Chuck's evening was beginning to shrink to the single awareness that Sarah Walker was sitting next to him.

After Morgan nearly broke his finger doing Thumbs and Anna was getting crankier at Ellie the more she drank, they decided to end the evening. Morgan and Anna caught a cab home, and Ellie and Awesome quickly disappeared into their room. Chuck tried to clean up the living room a little bit and was carrying two bottles of tequila into the kitchen when Sarah stopped him.

"Chuck, tonight's a night off. Be responsible tomorrow." She stood in front of him in a fairly simply tank top and jeans, her hair hanging around her shoulders, and Chuck had to swallow back his intense want for her.

"What if I can't help it?" he said, not quite sure what he was talking about anymore. The world seemed awfully…tilty.

Suddenly she was right by his side, her breath warm on his neck. "Be responsible tomorrow," she whispered. He turned, and couldn't help but kiss her.

If there was one thing to be said about Sarah Walker when she was drunk, it was that she took the dive with no hesitation whatsoever. Chuck had given into the temptation of her mouth thinking that she would pull away quickly, but instead she opened her mouth and reached up to hold his face to hers in an iron grip.

Chuck made a deep noise of surprise and amazement, gripping her hip and kissing her back for all he was worth. He tugged on her bottom lip and she tangled her tongue with his aggressively. Somehow she was pressed between him and the counter, her hands moving restlessly over his chest and around to his back, and Chuck was more forward with his own hands than he ever would have been sober. She felt like heaven to his touch, her lithe form almost solid muscle, but surprisingly soft. The simple feeling of having her arch into him, using the counter as a brace, was enough to send him practically into oblivion. When she somehow hopped up onto the counter without separating their mouths and wrapped her legs tightly around his hips, he just about died.

Everything felt like a daze, like the sort of dream he had become used to having – never about any other girl, just Sarah, always Sarah – and he couldn't quite keep track of what was going on through the haze of alcohol in his brain. She was making these _noises_, he was kissing her neck, she was pressing her hips sharply into his, his hands were under her shirt and on the warm skin of her back…

"Whoa, sorry dude."

Chuck broke away from Sarah slowly, the sound of Awesome's voice not quite making it through the deep pool his brain was currently entrenched in. Turning, he saw Awesome standing in the hallway, holding a box in his hands. Chuck gave him a questioning look, still very aware that Sarah's legs were wrapped like glue around him and his hand was up her shirt. "Sorry, bro. Just needed more, you know," he held up the box – of condoms – and shook it.

"God, Devon, I really didn't need to know that," Chuck said, hanging his head until it rested on Sarah's shoulder. He felt her shaking a little and taking deep breaths.

"Right. Sorry." Devon left very quickly after that.

Slowly, Chuck lifted his head and slipped his hand out of her shirt, immediately regretting the loss of her warm skin. He felt her loosen the grip of her legs and stepped backwards, swallowing hard and trying to get his body and mind under control.

"Um…"

"Don't say 'sorry'," she said quietly, slipping down from the counter. Absently, she tried to smooth her hair – that Chuck was amazed to see he had completely mussed – and licked her lips. Chucked followed every motion of her body without thinking about it. Had he really just been making out with Sarah Walker in his kitchen?

"I wasn't going to," he said just as quietly. Now he was regretting everything he had had to drink, because he was having some serious trouble thinking of anything even mildly intelligent to say.

"I should go," she said slowly, but didn't turn to leave.

"Stay, Sarah. You can't drive right now."

"I'll get a cab, like Anna and Morgan."

"Sarah," he said plaintively. "Just stay, okay? I'm not going to try and jump you during the night, I promise." Although that would be a promise he was willing to break. Chuck mentally berated himself for the thought.

For a moment she frowned adorably. "Why not?" As Chuck was raising his eyebrows, she covered her eyes with her hand. "Ugh, I'm sorry. I haven't had that much to drink in a long, long time and apparently I can't handle it as well as I used to." She sighed deeply and looked up at him. "I should go."

"Just stay the night," he continued to push gently.

They looked at each other, and after a minute Sarah gave a little smile and nodded. "Alright."

Five minutes later, they were crawling slowly into Chuck's bed, taking ibuprofen, and setting huge glasses of water on the bedside tables.

"Goodnight, Sarah," Chuck said as he closed his eyes on the spinning ceiling.

"Night," he heard her whisper before everything went dark.

--

The morning came with a thunderous pounding in his head and a feeling like his throat had turned into the Sahara. Moaning and grumbling, Chuck struggled to sit up and drain his glass of water. Sarah was still passed out beside him, sprawled half under the covers, wearing a t-shirt of his. Even though the sunlight coming in through the window felt like daggers, Chuck couldn't help but smile.

As he sat and watched her, she stirred, the shirt riding up on her back.

"Sarah?" he said quietly, to test if she was awake.

"Yeah?" came her groggy voice, smooshed against the pillow. She moved a little and rolled off her stomach, squinting up at him. "Oh God."

Chuck smiled. "Yeah, I know."

Sitting up, Sarah ran a hand over her face. Her mascara was smeared and her hair was sticking up all over the place, and she looked grumpy as all hell. Reaching for her glass of water, she chugged it before looking back at Chuck.

"Okay, so I'm never drinking again," she said with a wry smile. He laughed a little, but then silence descended over them and he lost his smile. "So…last night," said Sarah lightly.

"You want some coffee and breakfast?" he asked. Not in a let's-change-the-conversation-and-pretend-this-never-happened kind of way, but in a let's-be-okay-with-this kind of way. Sarah studied him for a moment before smiling.

"Throw in some bacon and I'm all yours." With his trademark grin, Chuck hopped off the bed – wincing as his head throbbed – and went into the kitchen to start cooking. Ellie and Awesome were still asleep, but Sarah padded out behind him in tiny shorts and his shirt and sat on the kitchen counter. Chuck tried desperately not to think of the last time she had been on that counter.

"How's your head?" she asked.

"Not great, but I have a feeling that some salty eggs and bacon might fix things."

She grinned. "That, and about five million glasses of water," she said jokingly. They laughed together as Chuck started cooking. Halfway through scrambling the eggs, Chuck glanced over at her. She was perched and watching him, her hair still a complete mess, and she smiled when she saw him looking.

"Thanks for last night," he said quietly. "I really needed that." Whether he meant the drinking game or the make-out session, he didn't say. After a thoughtful pause, she nodded and smiled softly.

"You're welcome. I needed that too." He wasn't quite sure which part of the night she meant, but he still smiled and handed her a plate.

"Bacon's on its way. Want the eggs while they're hot?"

"Yeah! Thanks."

As he went about making the bacon, he watched her wolf down the eggs in about five seconds and almost laughed. Things were okay, then. Things were…more than okay. Catching him looking at her again, she grinned sheepishly around a large mouthful. He laughed. Yeah, things were good.


End file.
